Previous Assistants to the President for Diversity

Dr. Forrest C. Crawford

Dr. Forrest C. Crawford is a Professor of Secondary Education in the Department of Teacher Education at Weber State University, in Ogden, Utah. A resident of Utah since 1972, he has worked for the University professionally since 1977 where he also served as Assistant to the President for Diversity for 13 years combined.

Dr. Crawford has distinguished himself without question in a number of arenas. Noted most for his great acumen and abilities to network with a diverse range of constituents to achieve goals, facilitate understanding and promote progressive change, Forrest has carved a lasting imprint on this University and the wider canopy of Humanity.

He has taught, trained, and mentored hundreds if not thousands of students earning their Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees. The late Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said about Forrest:

“…your commitment to educate, train and encourage your students using Kingian principles of non-violent social change as well as your role as the co-founder and chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission for Utah, has touched the lives of many. You have been instrumental in promoting the legacy of Dr. King through your speeches, essays, and editorials.”

Forrest is no stranger working in this community and for that matter throughout the state, region, and internationally. He has actively served on or chaired numerous boards and committees over the years, and was co-founder and first Chairman for five years, of our state’s Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission. He also helped establish the Utah Coalition for the Advancement of Minorities in Higher Education, Utah Black Education Forum, Utah Gandhi Alliance for Peace, and assisted in founding the Ogden-Utah Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Inc.; a Professional Society for Black Women. He has chaired Education, Training and Research Associates of Santa Cruz, California, The Family Summit Foundation: A Center for Grieving Children, Vice-Chaired the State’s Utah Humanities Council, The Education Division of Utah Science, Arts, and Letters Association, and currently is presiding Chair of the Northern Utah Coalition for HIV/AIDS Education. Dr. Crawford has been a member of the NAACP since 1972.

A perennial citizen’s lobbyist for improving education and human rights in Utah, most notable was his collaborative Utah Hate Crimes lobby that resulted in strengthening our laws against hate-motivated violence. Crawford was most recently presented the prestigious Charles E. Bennett Human and Civil Rights Award by the State of Utah Education Association, and has accolades, commendations, and honors too numerous to mention for his work locally, nationally, and internationally. In fact, he was most recently re-elected by his peers to a second term as the presiding Secretary General to the International Society for Teacher Education during May in meetings held in Paro, Bhutan (2012). He was a visiting lecturer at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, (Northern) Spain. He has published in state, national and international sources and presented papers in countries like Israel, Brazil, Kuwait, South Africa, Taiwan, Spain, and Australia; just to name a few.

These efforts only chronicle a cursory of Crawford’s renaissance-like journey to promote education, understanding, and improve the mosaic of humanity at Weber State University and abroad.

A favorite quote and mantra:

“Of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled and fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental.” –W.E.B. Dubois